


Hearts Beat

by Pumprince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst??, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Boys In Love, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags will be edited as the story progresses, Texting, broganes, group chats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 21:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10499496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pumprince/pseuds/Pumprince
Summary: At the ripe age of seven, Keith is introduced to the concept of "soulmates." At first, he isn't sure what to make of it, but eventually he gets used to the fact that literally everybody he knows has some sort of emotional telepathic link with a stranger somewhere in the world. Even him. And he's getting impatient waiting for his soulmate to show themselves.-Soulmate AU where soulmates are linked through their emotions, and very rarely are affected by their soulmate's emotions. Once soulmates meet and/or bond, an indescribable feeling of warmth, like the feeling of a fireplace on a cold winter's day, will encompass their hearts and beings.





	

****

The first time a freezing cold grip seizes his heart and lungs suddenly is when Keith is seven, on the first day of second grade, sitting alone near the school fence and eating his lunch. The feelings twist inside of him unpleasantly until he can’t take it anymore and he drops his sandwich and starts sobbing. One of the older kids, a sixth grader with a soft voice and dark skin, spots him and she rushes over, worried looking friends in tow. She coaxes him up and ushers him inside a building, away from the prying eyes of other children. She’s asking what the problem is but Keith can’t tell her, because he _doesn’t know_. And it’s frustrating.

The feeling hasn’t subsided at all and now it’s accompanied by Keith’s frustration, fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks.

One of the older girl’s friends take his other free hand and she and the first girl lead Keith to the school infirmary. The lady in the infirmary ushers a couple of children asking for lollipops out of the room when she spots the sobbing kid and worried but confused sixth graders.

On that day, the first day of second grade, Keith is introduced to a strange concept called a “soulmate.” Apparently, everyone has one; that girl that took him to the infirmary, his principal, even big brother Shiro. And whenever they get “bad feelings” (words dumbed down so the seven-year-old could understand) you could feel them, and vice versa.

Afterwards, Keith remembers his parents being called to bring him home early, seeing as the child was literally emotionally unstable at that current moment. Keith also remembers Shiro bursting through the door in a wild panic when it passed five minutes after three, indicating the sixth grader had sprinted home, Matt Holt, a kid with messy brown hair and glasses, panting behind him in the doorway. He remembers almost spilling the lemonade his mom made him on the blanket he had wrapped around himself when Shiro pounces on him.

“Are you okay!? Allura told me you were sent home early? Miss Anna said you had your first emotional connection with your soulmate!? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME!?” Shiro yelled, words spitting out of his mouth rapid fire while also equally ecstatic and worried. Keith, with his small hand, pushed the older boy’s face away with a short laugh.

“I’m okay.” Keith sniffled, taking a sip from his curly straw before speaking again, “It was weird though, and I dropped my sandwich.”

Shiro stared at him, trying to see how the sandwich had any relation to the matter at hand. He decided to brush it off, coming to a conclusion that Keith was still shaken up and possibly in shock. Instead, he turned his attention to his best friend and next door neighbour.

 

//

 

That night, Keith couldn’t sleep, and he had gone to his older brother’s room for comfort. Even though he was seven now, a big kid, Shiro still let him sleep in his bed. Except once he was under the covers, tucked safely in the older boy’s arms, Keith is still wide awake, staring at the ceiling.

“Shiro,” he calls out softly, prompting the other boy to sigh and open his eyes. He clicked on the lamp then turned back to Keith.

“Can’t sleep?” Shiro asks, receiving a slight nod from the boy. Shiro lets another sigh escape his lips and lies down on his side, elbow supporting his weight.

“Is it your soulmate?” Keith nods again.

Shiro grunts and lifts his left hand to run his fingers through Keith’s hair. “You know, you don’t only feel the bad things, like right now? I can feel that my soulmate is a little giddy- I can tell they’re up late doing something they’re not supposed to do.”

Keith giggles at that and watches Shiro smile down at him, his eyes telling him that he was having some sort of emotional telepathic conversation with his soulmate.

“Will I meet my soulmate one day?” Keith asks. Shiro ponders for a moment before humming.

“Well, yes, of course.”

“How will I tell it’s them?” Shiro was silent at the question.

“You just will.”

They stayed silent before Shiro chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling along with his smile.

“Ah,” Shiro sounds suddenly, a wider smile on his face, “I convinced them to go to sleep.” Keith stares, wide eyed with amazement.

“You can do that?”

“Of course I can, I’m their soulmate,” Shiro boasts, “Try reaching out to your soulmate, tell me how they feel.”

Keith nods and goes very still, concentrating. He finds he doesn’t need to concentrate all that hard, he feels the presence of someone else in his heart and mind almost instantly and he gasps. Their presence is somewhat comforting, like calming waters slipping up against the insides of his head, the soft drizzle of rain tickling his heart. Keith feels the calm build up into a storm, a typhoon swirling itself around his little heart. Keith clutches at the blankets, trying to will it all away.

“They’re upset,” Keith breathes out, eyes staring up at Shiro in fear- glimmering with unshed tears. “What do I do?”

Shiro lays his bigger hand on Keith’s chest, feeling the _thump thump thump_ of the boy’s heart.

“Soothe them, Keith.”

“How?”

“Send them your love, let them know you’re there for them,” Shiro explains.

Keith does just that, channelling all his affection into one single thought before imagining whisking it away to someone else. Almost instantly does the rage of the tides cease and something warm envelops Keith, his entire body- from the tips of his toes to his eyelids, is flooded by warmth. He’s sure his soulmate feels it too.

“They’re happy now,” Keith mumbles with a smile, eyes falling shut and promptly falling asleep.

 

//

 

By the time he had turned 12, Keith had _finally_ gotten used to the entire soulmate deal. Including his soulmate’s ever present bubbling happiness in the morning. Keith was not a morning person and his soulmate was? What kind of sick humour did the universe have? Nevertheless, it was nice waking up to something warm wrapped around his heart, it definitely helped getting him out of bed to get to school on time.

Sometimes at the most inconvenient times, he could feel his soulmate’s anger bubbling inside the pits of his stomach. And during those times he’d shoot back worry and love, successfully pacifying the feeling of rage.

Throughout the years, Keith found that he grounded his soulmate often, sending wave after wave of affection to the other when they were sad, soothing the other when he felt the other’s worry gnawing at the back of his mind.

His soulmate also did this for him. For the nights he’d lie awake, unable to sleep, he’d feel his soulmate’s presence flicker awake- as if his sadness had woken the other up. Sometimes Keith would try to squash down the emotion, but it never worked and his soulmate would stay awake sending encouraging emotions through their link until Keith fell asleep. Whenever his anger broiled over, he’d feel his soulmate trying to calm him down. Of course he felt it, but his anger got him into trouble anyway. He wondered if his soulmate knew that the sparks of embarrassment and regret in Keith’s heart were when he was in detention, and he wondered if when the other found out they’d laugh.

Keith was grateful for the other’s constant presence, and he wished dearly to meet them one day.

 

//

 

Throughout middle school and high school, Keith watched his brother establish a relationship with Allura, the sixth grader who had taken him to the nurse’s office all those years ago. Keith had thought they were meant to be, bonded at the soul—he thought they were supposed to be soulmates.

Until they discovered that they weren’t, their emotional link was too out of sync. Shiro had explained that he’d often found that Allura’s emotions weren’t in sync with her physical self. And they weren’t because they weren’t her emotions. When they broke up it was bittersweet, though they agreed to stay friends. Allura would hang out with Shiro and Matt like she was one of the boys, and Matt had readily accepted her into their dynamic duo. They were inseparable and Keith would sometimes tag along on their adventures. Keith found he enjoyed Allura’s company, like she was an older sister to him.

At the age of 17, when Keith had been taken out for pizza and stargazing by Shiro and the two others to celebrate the end of exam week, Shiro and Matt discovered they were soulmates. It happened when Matt had received a call from his little sister, a Brainiac of a little girl, that she had been accepted into a high school on a scholarship. Matt had screamed and leapt up, pizza slipping from his lap onto the grass. Shiro had stood stock still, watching Matt shake Allura by her shoulders because he was so _proud_ of his little sister.

“You,” Shiro had breathed, “ _You’re_ my soulmate?”

“Oh, my God, you finally realise, Takashi?” Matt gasped out, still giddy from the news of his sister.

Shiro has squawked out an odd noise between a gasp and a laugh and picked up Matt, spinning him around. It was a sight to see, and Keith had noticed Allura watching with exasperation. Turns out that Allura had figured it out way before Shiro.

When Keith asked Shiro about it, apparently whenever he was around Matt his entire body would feel warm- but not the uncomfortable type of warm; a warm that would erupt first in his heart then spread through his veins, encompassing him like a blanket. It also turns out that, that was technically a sign that you had found your soulmate, and Shiro had just passed it off as feeling happy around his best friend.

Matt and Shiro started dating and it was like watching a fairy tale unfold in front of Keith’s eyes, with how lovey-dovey they were being. It was sort of gross, but Keith found he didn’t really care. In fact, he found himself growing impatient and thinking “when can I be this happy?”

 

//

 

Late one evening when Keith is working on an essay for his English Lit class, his phone pings with a notification and he almost falls off his bed. It couldn’t be Pidge, he has a customised notification sound for her, and it wouldn’t be Shiro for the man was allegedly on a date with his boyfriend. So he shuffles his laptop off of his lap and reaches over to his bedside table, vaguely registering his soulmate’s spike of excitement, checks the notification and then unlocks his phone. He sighs, Pidge dragged him into a group chat.

 

**Pidgey added Hanky Panky, papi chulo, and Prince Zuko into the chat.**

**Pidgey changed the name to “study and chill”**

**[5: 11PM] Pidgey:** ayyy whats up gutter sluts

 **[5: 11PM] Pidgey:** ur prolly wondering why ive brought you here

 **[5: 12PM] Pidgey:** you see, lance has requested the following statement “I will only study if u bring me the finest brains in all of Altea High!!!!!!”

 **[5:12PM] Pidgey:** so here u guys are now, and ur gonna help me help this stupid gay pass his physics exam

 **[5:14PM] Hanky Panky:** ye that’s great and all but exam week isn’t until two weeks from now??

 **[5: 14PM] papi chulo:** HeY for ur information I am BI AND NOT GAY

 **[5:15PM] papi chulo:** there is a difference, PIDGE

 **[5:16PM] Pidgey:** @hunk yeah but like have u even seen lance lmao, we need to start teaching him now or else he’s going to fail

 **[5:16PM] Hanky Panky:** true

 

Keith watched the chat unfold, quirking an eyebrow at this _‘papi chulo´_ , aka Lance, considering he’s never met him before. He’s met Hunk, Pidge’s study buddy and Tech classmate. But never Lance- it could be that he and Pidge have different social circles, and whenever they do hang out its just Pidge and him (and sometimes Hunk). Pidge has only brought up Lance a few times, and Keith’s impression on him is that he is an absolute dill.

Keith hangs out with Nyma and Rolo, two seniors who are surprisingly smart and cunning alike. They help him study sometimes and they really know how to put the ass in class. Rolo is laid back and an all-around nice guy to hang around, and he even refuses to smoke around Keith’s presence. Keith would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about dating the guy. Nyma is a wild card, she’s exotic and has this booming laugh that rattles Keith to the core, he’d pass her off as a ditsy girl shooting for fame in her bodily looks if it wasn’t for the fact her dream job was to become a neurophysicist.

He also thought they were soulmates, until he found out Rolo was unabashedly gay and Nyma was demisexual.

 

 **[5:33PM] Hanky Panky:** where’s Keith?

 **[5:33PM] Pidgey:** lit essay, I think he has his phone on silent

 **[5:34PM] Prince Zuko:** I’m here

 **[5:34PM] Pidgey:** AYYYYY

 **[5:34PM] Pidgey:** finally

 **[5:34PM] Pidgey:** okay so lance, meet keith, keith meet lance

 **[5:35PM] papi chulo:** finger guns @ u

 **[5:36PM] Prince Zuko:** k

 

Keith puts his phone away after that, turning it off so he can focus on his assignment. He sighs, he wasn’t entirely ecstatic to be in the group, he didn’t usually do well in them. Sure he was in group chats with Nyma and Rolo, and sometimes Shiro, Matt, and Allura- but those chats weren’t very active. They’d only be active once in a while until it died again. He wasn’t sure if he wanted his phone going off every two seconds. It wasn’t a particularly nasty change, Keith just wasn’t used to it.

With the feeling of his soulmate’s warm emotions running through him, Keith manages to finish off the essay faster than he had thought and decides to open up his Netflix account to binge on a TV show.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING "wow starting a new series when you're still working on one?? shame on u" but 'The Art of Parenting' is supposed to be a light-hearted fic. It's essentially, as of now, a side project?
> 
> This fic is going to be much more serious and I absolutely adore Soulmate AUs, and I've had this certain AU rolling around in my head for a while so-- pls forgive me and feel free to yell at me if i haven't updated The Art of Parenting in a while (つ﹏<)･ﾟ｡
> 
> also, if you're a frequent reader of my fics then it's not going to be a surprise when i say that i again haven't read over this for mistakes. The first half was written at quite literally 5 in the morning and i found that sometimes i wrote 'roommate' instead of 'soulmate' sO HOPEFULLY i haven't done that again. If i have it might've slipped my radar so I won't be opposed to comments stating my mistakes!! I'll be really grateful actually.
> 
> Comments and kudos are, as always, appreciated! Thank you for reading and I hope you stick around for more ( ˘ ³˘)♥


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